Prank Wars
by Ang1
Summary: I honestly thought this was going to go slow, I did. But then it didn't, and I might just write a sequel if I find one in me! COMPLETE
1. Angry Works For Her

_What just happened there? _I turn to Colin and Finn only to see them back off carefully. "Did he just say 'welcome to the family'?" I ask carefully.

They nod. "And there is no way we're going with you to find her and tell her." Colin says quickly.

"She's dangerous when she's angry." Finn clarifies.

_Turncoats. _"I need to find her." I mutter. _Perhaps if I manage to get there before Richard I'll be able to make her understand this wasn't my fault. The library. She sniffs books for fuck's sake. She'll be at the library._

Twenty minutes later it occurs to me that she's not in the library. I check every coffee stand and shop between there and her dorm before attempting to calm down a bit at her door. Rubbing a hand through my hair I knock on her door as loudly as I can, in case she's asleep.

When she opens the door I can't help but notice she's wearing the hottest red top. Fascinating. "Hi." She says carefully.

_Maybe she doesn't know._ I push into the room and nod at Gellar on the couch. "We have a problem Ace."

She closes the door and turns to face me. _Have her legs always been that long?_ "Can it wait? Paris and I are…oh hell what do you want Logan?"

"Roommate time Gilmore!" Gellar shouts at her.

I see her attempt to calm herself down. "Tell Terrence to take roommate time and shove it up his ass Paris."

"Terrence says this is important to develop the road of our relationship!"

"Again, tell him to stick it up his ass. I have company." She turns to me. "Now, I repeat. What the hell do you want Logan?"

I grimace. "We could, you know, do this when you're not in a bad mood."

"Or we could do this now."

"Yeah. So, Bell told your grandfather about what happened in class."

She crosses her arms. _Yep, angry still works for her._ "How, precisely, did you find this out? Because I'm sensing a larger story here."

I shrug. "You're not going to call me a butt faced miscreant again, are you?"

Her tight, menacing smile nearly floors me. _Where did she learn to do that?_ "If the title is appropriate. Somehow I get the impression dumb shit jackass is going to be more suited to the situation because you still haven't told me what the hell you're doing here Logan."

I flop into one of her chairs. "I think we might be engaged."

Gellar sputters next to me. "What the hell did you do now?" she asks incredulously.

"Paris, get out." Rory cuts off my reply.

"Need I remind you of the rules of roommate time?"

"Get out now, Paris." She fixes that stare on Gellar and the blonde sighs.

"You have an hour Rory." She moves about quickly, gathering her things and closing the door quietly.

"What happened?" she asks softly.

I lean back into the chair. "Okay, so to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much of the conversation. He said something about property arrangements and pre-nups and then I pretty much don't remember anything until he said 'welcome to the family'. That I remember because I checked with Finn and Colin to make sure he really said it."

"How could you let this happen?" she shouts. "I told you! I told you no good could possibly come of this stupid stunt!"

"Hey!" I pause. _She doesn't have to sound so disgusted_. "This is not my fault! And really, would it be so bad?"

She sighs, pressing her hands to her temples, and I stand to move in front of her. "We hardly know one another Logan. We can't get married."

I look down into her upturned eyes, and smile. "Well, you know, according to gossip, most of New England's high society thinks we've been dating for a year and a half." I pull her into a tight hug, trying to ignore how well she fits up against me.

"That's not the point. Actually engaged is very different from fake dating to get rid of the annoying, stock quoting, MBA candidate. How could you let this happen?" she repeats, sighing into my chest.

"It's not like they asked for my permission Ace." I mutter softly, beginning to lose myself in her floral scent.

She pushes back abruptly and I realize I'm cold where she was. That's never happened. "Did you confirm this absurdity with your father?" she asks quickly.

I swallow deeply. **_So_** _not where I want to go right now._ "Not really high on my list of priorities, no."

"Maybe you should." She moves back a bit and I see a tiny flicker in her eyes, but dismiss it.

I step towards her. "No, I'd say something stupid, he'd react badly, and the whole thing would blow up in our faces."

She nods. "Okay, but what if Grandpa didn't actually talk to your dad?"

_What?_ I freeze in what was an attempt to pull her back against me. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" _What does she know?_

"I asked if it was possible my grandfather didn't find out about your ridiculous class interrupting idiocy from Bell, seeing as how he's never met the man, but rather from another source?"

I stare at her. "You conniving little witch!" I shout.

"What did you expect me to do Logan? Bend over and take it? You thrashed my class!"

"So you sent your grandfather to me talking about property arrangements and pre-nups?" I shout back. "It was a joke Rory!"

"It wasn't funny!"

"It really was." I spit.

"Not to me! That was my class Logan! And one of the things that is truly sacred to me is my education. I don't react well to provocation."

_Yeah, angry really, really, really works for her._ "And apparently you can't take a joke!" I pause, and move closer to her, backing her up against the wall. "This means war Gilmore." I whisper next to her face.

She smirks up at me. "Bring it on Huntzberger."

I turn and walk out the door, slamming it behind me, wondering what the hell I just got myself into.


	2. Evil Class Ruining Jackass

When I walk into the room after my conversation with Grandpa I'm smiling. _Little prankster thinks he can mess with a Gilmore, does he?_

"Sit down Rory." Paris' voice clips and I glance over at the couches. _Oh hell, she's doing roommate time again. Why can't she just say, 'let's have a movie night'? No, not Paris Gellar. She could never just admit she wants to spend time with a person. Nope. She has to get Terrence to tell her when it's time to spend time with the people in her life. Regardless of their schedules._

"I don't have time for this Paris. I have a paper due in two days that I've only done two drafts of."

"Terrence says we've been neglecting our path Rory."

"I really can't do this right now Paris, seriously."

"Sit down Rory."

I sigh and move to the chair. "How long is this going to take?" I mutter.

"Well, I have crafts, and movies, and I even bought some junk food." I glance at the bag of apple chips in horror.

"That is not junk food Paris. I'll tell you what. If you put this off until tonight, I'll call my mom, and we can head to Stars Hollow for a proper girls' night." I offer hopefully.

"Don't be ridiculous Rory, you know we can't develop our relationship as roommates if we get interrupted by outsiders."

I feel the hope grow inside of me as a loud series of knocks interrupts us. _Please God be someone who desperately needs to talk to me. To take me away from the insanity._ I glance at Paris, who's glaring at me, and hurry to the door, flinging it open to reveal a frazzled Logan. "Hi." _He's hot when he's stressed. I should freak him out more often._

"We have a problem Ace." He pushes past me into the room and I suppress a victory dance.

"Can it wait? Paris and I are…oh hell what do you want Logan?" I shrug indifferently at Paris.

"Roommate time Gilmore!" Paris clips.

_Stupid fucking idiotic roommate time. Ugh._ "Tell Terrence to take roommate time and shove it up his ass Paris."

"Terrence says this is important to develop the road of our relationship!" she insists

I smile tightly at her. "Again, tell him to stick it up his ass. I have company." I turn to face him. "Now, I repeat. What the hell do you want Logan?"

He grimaces. "We could, you know, do this when you're not in a bad mood."

"Or we could do this now." _Why is it that men always insist on avoiding confrontation? Jackass._

"Yeah. So, Bell told your grandfather about what happened in class." He offers.

I narrow my eyes at him. _That is not what happened. _"How, precisely, did you find this out? Because I'm sensing a larger story here."

He shrugs. "You're not going to call me a butt faced miscreant again, are you?"

"If the title is appropriate. Somehow I get the impression dumb shit jackass is going to be more suited to the situation because you still haven't told me what the hell you're doing here Logan." _Go on Huntzberger. Spit it out. We're betrothed. You can do it._

He flops into the chair next to Paris. "I think we might be engaged." _Good boy._

Paris sputters. "What the hell did you do now?" she asks incredulously, and I smile at the tiny smirk that plays on his face. _He's crafty; I'll give him that. No! Class ruiner! Bad Rory for caving to the pretty face!_

"Paris, get out." I clip darkly. _This is going to be fun._

"Need I remind you of the rules of roommate time?"

"Get out now, Paris." I glare at her dangerously. _So not the one to fight me on Gellar. So not the one._

"You have an hour Rory." She moves about quickly, gathering her things and closing the door quietly.

"What happened?" I ask him softly.

He leans back a bit. "Okay, so to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much of the conversation. He said something about property arrangements and pre-nups and then I pretty much don't remember anything until he said 'welcome to the family'. That I remember because I checked with Finn and Colin to make sure he really said it."

_Wow, he has really cut abs. No! Evil Logan wrecked class! Must continue to taunt him!_ "How could you let this happen? I told you! I told you no good could possibly come of this stupid stunt!"

"Hey! This is not my fault! And really, would it be so bad?"

_Stop thinking like this Rory. Stop attempting to cave in. _ I feel his arms wrap around me and nearly crumble. _He smells like spice and chocolate and oh dear lord he smells like coffee._ "We hardly know one another Logan. We can't get married." I whisper, looking up at him and nearly getting lost in the blue of his eyes.

He smiles. "Well, you know, according to gossip, most of New England's high society thinks we've been dating for a year and a half." He pulls me against him more tightly. _And then he opens his freaking mouth. But wow, warm._

"That's not the point. Actually engaged is very different from fake dating to get rid of the annoying, stock quoting, MBA candidate. How could you let this happen?" I exhale into his chest, attempting to ignore the comforting scents and warm arms around me.

"It's not like they asked for my permission Ace." He says softly into my hair.

I push back abruptly. _Focus Gilmore. There is a point to what you're doing. Stop smelling him and get on with it!_ "Did you confirm this absurdity with your father?" I say quickly, attempting to regain control of the conversation.

"Not really high on my list of priorities, no."

"Maybe you should." I say, moving back a bit more.

He moves closer, speaking calmly. "No, I'd say something stupid, he'd react badly, and the whole thing would blow up in our faces."

I nod. _Must keep going._ "Okay, but what if Grandpa didn't actually talk to your dad?"

He freezes, and fixes his eyes on me. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" _He knows._

"I asked if it was possible my grandfather didn't find out about your ridiculous class interrupting idiocy from Bell, seeing as how he's never met the man, but rather from another source?" I grin at him. _Ha! Take that prank boy!_

"You conniving little witch!" he shouts.

_Now that's going to far. _"What did you expect me to do Logan? Bend over and take it? You thrashed my class!"

"So you sent your grandfather to me talking about property arrangements and pre-nups? It was a joke Rory!"

"It wasn't funny!" _Has he ever called me that? Ever? I think I like that._

"It really was." He clips.

"Not to me! That was my class Logan! And one of the things that is truly sacred to me is my education. I don't react well to provocation." _ Why did I tell him that? I didn't want to tell him that._

"And apparently you can't take a joke!" I feel his breath on my face as he backs me against the wall and carefully focus on ignoring how amazing it feels. "This means war Gilmore." He whispers into my ear.

"Bring it on Huntzberger." I clip evenly, watching him stalk out of the room, slamming the door. _What the hell did I just get myself into?_


	3. Sold Out, Closed for Renovations and Flo...

I wake up slowly. _Ugh. Morning sucks._ I glance at the clock, noting clinically that I have time for at least three cups before leaving to get my coffee at the stand on the corner.

Smiling, I walk out of my room slowly, not smelling the coffee Paris usually remembers to put on. "Coffee?" I ask her head carefully.

"I went to put it on, but you're out. Please don't hurt me, I swear there was a can and a half yesterday."

I crinkle my face in disgust. "There was." I mutter, grabbing my coat. "I'll be back to get dressed later."

"I know."

I head out the door and stop short when I see the crowd gathered at the stand. "What do you mean you're out of coffee?" a student near the front of the line yells.

_Did he just say out of coffee?_

"I'm really sorry guys! I don't know what happened! My delivery got delayed, they can't get out until tomorrow."

I feel a tugging sensation at the base of my spine. _Not possible._ I dismiss the feeling quickly, hurrying to the closest coffee shop, freezing when I see the sign. Closed for renovations. Further down the road, each coffee shop has a different sign. Flood damage, electrical malfunctions. "Gone fishing?" I read carefully. "Gone fishing?" I run my fingers through my hair. "What the hell is going on?" I mutter darkly, turning away from the shop only to see one of them walking in the direction of the philosophy department. _I'll kill him. No. Too easy. I'm gonna castrate the little shit. _ I walk up to him and turn him to face me. "What did he do?"

He winces. "To whom are we referring?" he asks carefully.

"Don't fuck with my mind Finn. What did he do?"

"I'm not precisely sure, I wasn't privy to a large portion of the logistics since I'm generally the easiest to crack under pressure."

I shove him up against the nearest tree. "Good to know. Where is he?"

"I'm thinking it's not entirely prudent for me to tell you that when you're quite this murderous princess."

I grab his hair and pull his face down near mine. "Finn, I swear on my mother if you don't take me to him soon, you'll never please another woman for the rest of your god-given life."

I feel him stiffen. "Right this way princess." He places his arm around my shoulders and leads me back in the direction of the dorms. When we arrive at the door I take his key from him and fling open the door.

"You stupid little troll! Where are you?" I scream, flinging open one of the bedroom doors to reveal Colin and Stephanie. "Where is he?" I ask sharply as they scramble to cover up.

"He's heading out the door." Colin offers carefully.

I turn to face him. "You! You are an obsequious, coffee stealing mongrel! How dare you perpetrate such a crime on the student body! Coffee is the blood that runs through our veins to sustain us!"

I stalk closer as he backs slowly into the farthest bedroom from the door. "Okay Ace, you remember how I said angry works for you? Definitely better in small doses."

"How dare you! It's sacrilege!" I move closer, and feel a surge of power as he steps back again, nearly tripping this time.

"Sacrilege? Come **_on_**. It was a joke, not sacrilege. Its just coffee." He's still backing up.

"Just coffee? **_Just coffee?_** You stupid, small-minded, evil -

I freeze as my cell begins ringing the tune from Star Wars. Mom. "Yes?" I ask as calmly as I can.

"Luke is out of coffee. I am out of coffee. Taylor is out of coffee. The inn is out of coffee. Even Al is out of coffee. There is no coffee left in Stars Hollow." Her voice mutters darkly.

"You wouldn't have dared." I whisper darkly at him.

"Sweets, who are you talking to?"

"In a second mom." I narrow my eyes at him. "Where is it?"

He sighs. "It's gone." He offers.

"Where. Is. It. Now? My mother has been on a steady diet of eight cups a day since before I was born. May I point out that when I was born no one knew coffee was bad for a baby? Where is the coffee?" I nearly dance as he cringes a bit.

"There's a place called Java Hut in Hartford that has coffee."

I lift the phone slowly, keeping eye contact with him. "Mom, go to the Java Hut in Hartford."

"Why do I have to go all the way to Hartford for coffee?"

"I'll explain tonight"

"This is because of that boy, isn't it? And that prank war you're in. Your next target is his cash flow."

"I understand." I tell her calmly, ending the call. I point the phone at him. "There will be fresh brewed, hot coffee delivered to her every morning for the next six months. At least four cups. Nine AM. No exceptions, the coffee will even arrive steaming hot on Christmas and New Year's. She will have a supply of fresh ground coffee delivered once a week to the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, no charge, for that same length of time. Is that understood? This is the only way she will not hunt you down for the travesty you have perpetrated."

He nods slowly. "I'll make the arrangements today."

"Good boy." I point at the door. "You're taking me to the Java Hut in Hartford."

"I have class." _He has class? Class? There is no way he is going to class._

"So did I, now you have a coffee expedition."

"Aren't you going to threaten me with retribution?" he asks carefully as he grabs his jacket.

I move closer to him, and whisper softly in his ear. "Retribution is nowhere near what I have planned for you my dear, sweet boy, and if you don't get your keys soon, I'll make your life a living hell from now until you graduate." _He's not supposed to smell that good._

"Coffee run?" he asks softly, locking his eyes with mine.

_Damn. If only he didn't look so sorry. _ "Good plan. By the way, you have an appointment tonight." I add quickly, to cover up the shudder that nearly runs through me with his gaze.

He smiles. "With who?"

"Three generations of Gilmore girls. Grandpa is out of town this week, and you have an apology to make to my mother." I turn away and hurry out the door, smiling to myself at the look of horror on his face.


	4. You Wouldn't Dare

I stare up at the roof of my room blankly. _What tops fake marriage? What could conceivably top - _I sit up abruptly, grinning. "Finn! Colin!" I shout into the common room, hurrying out.

They glance up, and Colin groans. "Oh hell, Logan has another project."

I glare at him. "Hey!"

"Well, you do, don't you?" he sighs. "What is it this time?"

"We need to make some calls to a few coffee suppliers."

I see Finn's jaw drop. "You wouldn't dare do that to her."

I narrow my eyes at him. "How could you possibly have known this was about Rory?"

"Because everything has been about Rory since she had her grandfather convince you that he was arranging your marriage." Colin deadpans. "And Finn is right. Going after her coffee is just plain dangerous man."

"It's not dangerous. It's payback." I explain. "See, she went after what was sacred to me. My freedom of choice. My independence from my parents. I'm going to do the same to her."

"Logan, you'd have to arrange it so every coffee shop in Connecticut ran out of coffee at the same time. You'd have to get all the coffee in the dorms. You'd probably even have to get into her mother's house to get rid of the coffee there." Colin pushes.

I nod. "I know. The logistics are fascinating, don't you think Finn?"

He shrugs. "It's unlikely, but possible, I suppose. Enough money can accomplish a great deal."

I lean over the couch. "So you're both in?"

Colin sighs, and Finn rubs his hands together. "In omnia." They chorus together.

The morning of what I like to call 'the Gilmore project' I'm flipping through my book calmly. _Ha. Take that Gilmore. I win._ The main door to the common area slams open suddenly.

"You stupid little troll! Where are you?" she screams, flinging open the door to Colin's room. "Where is he?"

I wince. _Uh oh. I should get out of here. Fast. _I move carefully out of my room and into the common area, inching for the door.

"He's heading out the door." Colin offers easily.

_Traitor._

I feel my legs shake a bit as she turns on me. "You! You are an obsequious, coffee stealing mongrel! How dare you perpetrate such a crime on the student body! Coffee is the blood that runs through our veins to sustain us!"

I back away slowly into my room. "Okay Ace, you remember how I said angry works for you? Definitely better in small doses." I offer carefully.

"How dare you! It's sacrilege!" she's stalked closer again, so I take another step back.

"Sacrilege? Come **_on_**. It was a joke, not sacrilege. Its just coffee." _Jesus does she ever look good when she's pissed._

"Just coffee? **_Just coffee?_** You stupid, small-minded, evil - she breaks off as her cell begins ringing. _Please don't be her mother, please don't be her mother, please don't be her mother. I'll be screwed. I'll be really, really screwed, and no matter how hot she looks right now, she's scary. _I wince again as her eyes narrow at me. _Oh shit, it's her mother._ "You wouldn't have dared." She hisses, then lifts the phone back to her mouth. "In a second mom." She narrows her eyes. "Where is it?" she asks softly.

I sigh. "It's gone." I admit carefully.

"Where. Is. It. Now? My mother has been on a steady diet of eight cups a day since before I was born. May I point out that when I was born no one knew coffee was bad for a baby? Where is the coffee?"

"There's a place called Java Hut in Hartford that has coffee." I cave. _I don't need more that one angry Gilmore. I really, really don't._

She lifts the phone back up without breaking eye contact with me. "Mom, go to the Java Hut in Hartford. I'll explain tonight…I understand." She ends the call. "There will be fresh brewed, hot coffee delivered to her every morning for the next six months. At least four cups. Nine AM. No exceptions, the coffee will even arrive steaming hot on Christmas and New Year's. She will have a supply of fresh ground coffee delivered once a week to the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, no charge, for that same length of time. Is that understood? This is the only way she will not hunt you down for the travesty you have perpetrated."

I nod slowly. "I'll make the arrangements today."

"Good boy." She indicates the door. "You're taking me to the Java Hut in Hartford."

"I have class." _This was a bad idea. Her eyes flash, and I notice a fleck of green in her left eye._

"So did I, now you have a coffee expedition."

I swallow. "Aren't you going to threaten me with retribution?"

The glint in her eyes terrifies me, and I quickly break eye contact, only to find my gaze riveted to her lips as she steps closer to me to whisper in my ear. "Retribution is nowhere near what I have planned for you my dear, sweet boy, and if you don't get your keys soon, I'll make your life a living hell from now until you graduate."

I close my eyes. _I could live with that if you would stay standing right there._ "Coffee run?" I ask softly.

She nods. "Good plan. By the way, you have an appointment tonight."

I smile. "With who?"

"Three generations of Gilmore girls. Grandpa is out of town this week, and you have an apology to make to my mother."

_Oh shit._


	5. Knee High Lambskin Leather Stiletto Boot...

"This is ridiculous Ace. Why should I have to buy you clothes? For that matter, why do I have to wait here while you spend my money?" he calls as I slide the sweater down my stomach.

I step out of the change room and stare at him. "We had this discussion already Logan. You made the coffee go away; therefore I wandered around all day in my pyjamas. Now, we have to have dinner at my grandmother's, and don't have time to go back to Yale so I can change." _Dear lord those abs. Through a sweater! Jesus._

"Yes, but why do I have to pay again?"

"You're the one who made the coffee go away." I place my hands on my hips for emphasis. "Good?" I twirl a bit to clear my head. _Stop thinking about his abs Rory. Thoughts about his body are bad. You're mad at him. Don't forget that._

"Good." He says shortly, nodding.

I move closer, and hand him the tags. "I'm going to grab my stuff so we can go get shoes." I smile and turn back to the change room. _Just don't inhale. He smells too good._

He grabs my arm, and I turn to face him. _Damn he's close. _"You never said anything about shoes Ace." He mutters darkly.

I arch an eyebrow. _I distinctly remember specifying 'outfit'. _"If you honestly think I can get away with wearing my torn sneakers A) with this outfit and B) to my grandmother's for dinner, we'll head right on over to her house now."

He sighs, and loosens his hold on my arm, dropping his hand into mine loosely. I inhale slowly. "Shoes?" he offers, meeting my eyes.

I bite my lip. _I shouldn't have inhaled. He smells like coffee. Damnit. How can he possibly smell like coffee on the day the coffee disappeared?_ "I promise to be quick." I say quickly, dropping his hand. "We're going to be late as it is, and I may have neglected to tell her you're coming." I move back into the change room and take a few deep breaths before sliding my feet into my sneakers.

I walk up behind him, and place my pyjamas on the counter. "Could you hand me a bag?" I ask the salesgirl.

"I can put those in for you." she offers carefully.

I wave a hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll stuff them in on my way across the mall." I glance up at him and smile. "I'll be at ALDO." I hurry into the mall, and pull out my cell.

"Hello?"

"Grandma?" I ask carefully. _Why is Grandma answering her own phone?_

"Rory! How are you?"

"I'm good Grandma, just running a little late. I got held up and had to pick up a few things before coming."

"Not too late I hope?"

_Grandma speak for ten minutes. Check._ I glance back at the clothing store and see Logan crossing towards me. "Ten minutes tops, I promise."

"Well, your mother and I will see you then I suppose." She responds.

"Thanks Grandma. Love you, bye."

"I love you too dear."

I hang up quickly as he approaches. "Consider yourself lucky. I bought us all of ten minutes to pick out, try on, and buy me a pair of shoes." I comment.

"This is lucky because?"

I grin. "I am notorious for not being able to decide on a proper pair of shoes. It's one of my few girlie vices." I hurry into the store, grabbing the first salesperson I find. "Hurry! I only have ten minutes to find the perfect pair of size six shoes to match this outfit! I need them all!"

I see about four people run into the back room and grin as they start coming out with boxes. _Perfect. Shoes. Shoes will distract me from the beautiful boy outside who smells like coffee._ He walks slowly into the store and freezes when he looks at me. "How could you possibly have managed to find that many shoes in the thirty seconds you've been in here?" he asks.

I feel myself flush as the first sales guy approaches with three more boxes. "Like I said, I'm not very good at choosing shoes, so I just walked in and told them to start bringing things out in my size." I glance at the pile and am immediately drawn to three pairs.

"She has enough." He tells the sales guy, flopping down next to me. _Coffee smelling. Distracting. God he looks good._ "So what should we be looking for?"

_He's going to help? That deserves an answer. _"You're going to help?"

"The faster you pick, the sooner we get to leave." He glances at the shoes.

"Good point." I poke through the shoes for a bit, still focusing on the same three pair, along with a cute pair of pink ballet slippers that just don't match at all.

"Ace, we don't have time for this." He comments dryly after a bit.

I sigh. "I know. But I swear, it's between the black sling backs, knee high boots, and pumps." I lean back in the chair, contemplating carefully.

I look at the distress on her face. "Don't ever tell anyone I did this." He mutters. _Did what? _ "She'll take them all. Can you just ring them up?" _Oh._

"Logan, you don't have to –

"Will it get us out of here faster?" He asks, as I grab the sling backs and slide them on quickly.

"Well, yeah, but the boots are like two hundred dollars." I point out carefully.

He turns to me abruptly. "For a pair of shoes?"

"For a pair of knee high, lambskin leather stiletto boots." I clarify.

He looks at the sales guy. "Ring them up. If we stay here any longer she'll find more."

_This is true. _"Did you **_see_** those pink ballet slipper style shoes?" I offer.

"Those too, but that's it." He hands the guy his credit card and turns back to me. "And only because I'm hoping it'll impact this so called retribution of yours."

_I knew there was more to this story. Weasel._ I smile carefully at him. "I stand by my word. What I have planned for you is a thousand times worse than retribution."

I stand when the sales guy comes back with the slip to sign and leave him to carry the bags. _Dear lord he's hot. I really need to get some air._


	6. This Could be Dangerous

I tap my foot impatiently, settling further into the plush leather couch. "This is ridiculous Ace. Why should I have to buy you clothes? For that matter, why do I have to wait here while you spend my money?"

She steps out of the change room, and my breath catches. _This could be dangerous._ I think as I take in the barely decent black skirt and tight blue sweater. "We had this discussion already Logan. You made the coffee go away; therefore I wandered around all day in my pyjamas. Now, we have to have dinner at my grandmother's, and don't have time to go back to Yale so I can change."

"Yes, but why do I have to pay again?"

"You're the one who made the coffee go away." She repeats, turning to me and placing her hands on her hips. "Good?" she asks, twirling a bit.

I swallow deeply. "Good." I nod.

She walks closer, and holds the tags before me. "I'm going to grab my stuff so we can go get shoes." She smiles.

I grab her arm as she walks away. "You never said anything about shoes Ace." I say darkly. _Shoe shopping?_

She looks back at me with one eyebrow arched. "If you honestly think I can get away with wearing my torn sneakers A) with this outfit and B) to my grandmother's for dinner, we'll head right on over to her house now."

I sigh, and loosen my grip on her arm so that my hand falls to grasp hers lightly. "Shoes?" I offer lamely, locking my eyes with hers.

She bites her lip a bit. "I promise to be quick." She offers. "We're going to be late as it is, and I may have neglected to tell her you're coming." She shuffles into the change room and I cross to the checkout, handing the salesgirl the tags and my credit card."

"You know that if she wears them out they'll be final sale, right?" the girl asks calmly.

I smile. "Yeah. I figured as much."

I feel her come up behind me, and glance down as she drops her pyjamas on the counter. "Could you hand me a bag?" she asks the girl.

"I can put those in for you."

Ace waves a hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll stuff them in on my way across the mall." She explains, taking the offered bag, and then glancing at me. "I'll be at ALDO." She grins, and walks out.

I glance back at the salesgirl, and shrug. "How much?"

"Eighty-three fifty nine, including the stockings." She offers.

I stare at her. "What stockings?"

The girl laughs. "The ones for the garter she grabbed while you were busying yourself staring at her ass." She hands me a slip, and I quickly sign it, noticing Ace on her phone. "Meeting the family?"

I glance back. "It's a little more complicated than that. We're not dating, but I have to apologize to her mother for something."

She lifts her eyebrows. "You're not dating?" she asks incredulously.

"No."

"Huh."

I shake my head, and head out of the store. _Why did she sound so surprised by that? _I approach Ace and smile as she flips her phone closed. "Consider yourself lucky. I bought us all of ten minutes to pick out, try on, and buy me a pair of shoes." She comments.

"This is lucky because?"

She smiles. "I am notorious for not being able to decide on a proper pair of shoes. It's one of my few girlie vices." She offers, and hurries into the store.

I can't help but stare at her legs as she walks away from me. _Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. This is not the time, or the place to be thinking about the fact that you just bought her a garter. You're on your way to her GRANDMOTHER'S house for Christ's sake._ Shaking my head, I walk slowly into the store, only to find she is quite literally surrounded by shoeboxes. "How could you possibly have managed to find that many shoes in the thirty seconds you've been in here?" I ask carefully.

She smiles slightly, blushing a bit. "Like I said, I'm not very good at choosing shoes, so I just walked in and told them to start bringing things out in my size." She shrugs as a salesperson brings over three more boxes.

"She has enough." I say quickly to him, and take a seat next to her. "So what should we be looking for?"

"You're going to help?"

"The faster you pick, the sooner we get to leave." I offer, glancing down at her legs again. _Damn._

"Good point." She glances at the shoes carefully, picking up a few here and there.

"Ace, we don't have time for this." I comment a couple minutes later.

She sighs. "I know. But I swear, it's between the black sling backs, knee high boots, and pumps."

I look at the distress on her face. "Don't ever tell anyone I did this." I say darkly, and then look at the guy. "She'll take them all. Can you just ring them up?"

"Logan, you don't have to –

"Will it get us out of here faster?" I ask, swallowing as she slides on the five inch heeled sling backs.

"Well, yeah, but the boots are like two hundred dollars."

I look at her sharply. "For a pair of shoes?"

"For a pair of knee high, lambskin leather stiletto boots."

I look at the salesperson. "Ring them up. If we stay here any longer she'll find more."

"Did you **_see_** those pink ballet slipper style shoes?" she asks.

"Those too, but that's it." I tell the guy, handing him my credit card, and then turn back to her. "And only because I'm hoping it'll impact this so called retribution of yours."

Her smile sends chills down my spine. "I stand by my word. What I have planned for you is a thousand times worse than retribution."

The sales guy comes back with the receipt and a bag, and I sign quickly as she walks out of the store. _She should wear heels more often._


	7. Interlude: He is so Screwed

I ring the doorbell reluctantly, and start when my mother opens it herself.

"Why are you just standing there in the cold Lorelai?" she clips.

I shake my head. "Umm…because you answered your own door?" I offer. _Stupid coffee stealing limo boy. I can't believe I have to face my mother with no caffeine._

"Don't be absurd. Gretchen is on vacation, get in here."

I follow her slowly. "So, is Rory here yet? She promised me a story."

My mother shakes her head. "She called about a half hour ago, something about having to pick something up on her way." We enter the sitting room, and she moves to the bar. "Martini?"

I shake my head. "I don't suppose you have any coffee?"

"It was the strangest thing, I went to the kitchen this morning to ask Jessica for some, and she said we were out – and so were all the grocery stores in the area." She offers.

I sit up a bit straighter in my chair. "You're kidding me, right?" I ask carefully. _How far did this kid take this?_

"No, and I went down the street to the Starbucks, and they were out as well."

I stare at her. _He's evil. It's that simple. Crafty, okay. Creative, sure. But none the less evil._ "Out out, or fake out?" I ask.

"Out. There was a crowd in front of the building. I couldn't find coffee anywhere."

"Java Hut." I tell her. "Java Hut was the only place with coffee."

"How do you know that?" she asks, sitting across from me.

"Rory told me." I shrug as the doorbell rings. "I'll let her tell the story, she knows more details than I do."

My mother stands. "I should let her in then."

I stare blankly at the wall when she steps out until she reappears. "Don't worry about it dear, I'll talk to Jessica. She can rearrange the portions."

I glance up at Rory as she walks in pulling the perpetrator. "What is he doing here Rory?" I clip.

"Lorelai! Be polite to Logan. His parents are very good friends of ours."

I'm about to interrupt when he smiles softly at her. "Actually Emily, I sort of deserved that." He offers.

"Damn right you did." I tell him, and then turn back to my mother. "He would be the reason you didn't have coffee this morning."

She stops moving towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry, what?"

He shrugs. "To be fair, Ace here started it."

I see my daughter's eyes narrow. "I did no such thing. **_You_** started this ridiculous power struggle with your stupid stunt in my class. All I did was return the favor."

"Favor? Favor? Ace, you scared the shit out of me!" he turns quickly to my mother. "Pardon the language Emily, but she did."

"You thrashed my class Logan. What did you think I was going to do? Let it slide? Forget it. We've had this conversation, and that's not why you're here tonight." She pushes him in my direction. "Tell her."

He smiles at me, and I narrow my eyes.

"What is going on here Rory?" my mother suddenly asks.

"Logan is offering himself up to mom's mercy to apologize for the travesty he inflicted upon her today." She clips.

"The coffee issue, I take it?" my mother puts in.

"Yes."

I glance at my mother carefully, and start as she nods. "All right then, I'll go talk to Jessica."

"Wait." I stop her.

"What do you want Lorelai?"

"You're on my side for this?" I ask her carefully.

"I've seen you without coffee Lorelai. Many, many times. You've been drinking coffee since you were eleven years old. The boy **_should_** apologize." She looks firmly at Logan. "**_Profusely_**." She walks away silently, and I turn back to him.

"You heard her."

He smiles. "Yeah. So, to be fair, I didn't know about the depth of your addiction –

"It's not an addiction. It's a love affair." I cut him off.

"Of your love affair with coffee." He finishes. "And when I came up with keeping Rory from coffee for the day, it occurred to me that I would basically have to clean out the state to accomplish the task." I nod, and he moves on. "So, in my sheer idiocy – I did just that. I understand just how much of a travesty that was, not only for you, but for all coffee lovers worldwide. To try to make up for the tragedy, Ace suggested that I should have four cups of fresh brewed coffee delivered steaming hot to your door every day for the next six months, including statutory holidays. I've arranged for that to happen beginning tomorrow." He smiles. _That seems acceptable._

I narrow my eyes at him as Rory pokes him in the side. "There's more, isn't there?" I tilt my head at him, and he sighs.

"I was hoping to surprise her." He offers to her.

"Surprise her with a surprise jackass, not with your punishment." Rory clips. _This kid is good for her. Keeps her on her toes._

He turns back to me. "Each week, for those six months, your Inn will receive its full supply of coffee at no charge."

I smile and clap. "Oooh! Free coffee. You can sit next to me now, I like you again."

He takes the seat, and Rory settles in across from us. He glances at her carefully. "I don't suppose I could offer you more free coffee in exchange for details on her so-called retribution is going to be?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Tempting, but no. Though you have made it up to me, you must still pay for the chaos you created by ridding the state of the elixir of life."

"Lorelai, switch places with Rory. There's no need for Logan to sit next to a stranger." My mother's voice clips.

"It's really okay." Logan offers quickly, and I glance at Rory, lifting my eyebrows. She shrugs in confusion, and I smile. _He likes her. And she doesn't know it yet. My kid is so cute._ I stand, and motion to the empty seat.

Rory's eyes widen a bit. "I'm okay mom." _Aww. She likes him too._

"I insist." I smile at her, and she moves slowly next to sit next to him.

"So, Rory, how's school going?" my mother asks, smiling as she sits next to me.

Rory smiles. "Pretty good. I think I may have missed some relatively important lectures today, but Paris arranged for people to take notes for me, so I'll review them this weekend."

"You missed your classes?"

I snort. "You just completely forgot about the coffee thing, didn't you Mom?"

"Why would you miss your classes because of that?"

"I made Logan drive me into Hartford for coffee and then it seemed odd to drive all the way back to Yale only to come back for dinner, so I made him buy me new clothes too."

"Why weren't you dressed?"

"Yeah Ace, why weren't you dressed?" Logan grins at her, and she elbows him sharply.

"Because someone made the coffee disappear, and I always drink coffee before getting dressed." She clips.

He shuffles a bit. "You're going to use that a lot, aren't you?"

She looks at him with a deceptively sweet smile. "Count on it, _dear._"

_He is so screwed._


	8. The Trouble With Money

I glance up as Colin walks in. "So, you're free for the weekend. What are we doing?"

"She's out of town. That doesn't mean I'm free." He deadpans.

"Same difference. What are we doing?"

He flops in a chair. "Isn't it Finn's turn to decide?"

I groan. "Do you think that if we conveniently forget to remind him he won't remember?"

His eyebrows lift. "Are you kidding? A weekend where I'm not with Steph and you don't have some evil plot for the reporter? No way is he going to let us decide what we're doing."

I narrow my eyes at him. "What does Ace have to do with this?"

"You're falling for her Logan."

I shake my head. "I am not. I just enjoy watching her squirm."

He sighs. "And it doesn't at all bother you that she hasn't delivered on her precious retribution for the coffee thing yet?"

I shudder a bit. "How bad could it be, right? I've been sending the coffee to her mother. I explained the whole thing to the woman. She seemed okay with it. They both did."

"Who are you trying to reassure? Me? Because I don't need reassurance. She's not coming after me. Christ Logan, you're talking about a person who managed to convince you her grandfather conspired with your father to betroth you. She's vicious when provoked."

I groan. "Do you think I don't know that? But honestly, I've talked to her. And I know she can't have anything planned for this weekend, because she's going out of town on a writing retreat."

The door crashes open then, and a disturbingly sober Finn walks in. "It got rejected." He says incredulously.

I lift an eyebrow. "What got rejected?"

"My credit card. All of my credit cards actually. I went to pick up the libations for our bachelor's weekend at the liquor store, and they turned down my credit cards." He collapses into one of the other chairs. "Not only did they reject them, they cut them up! In front of everybody! And Marc down at the Pub wouldn't put anything on my tab because he says the credit card it's on got rejected this morning when he went to charge last weeks drinks!"

I stare at him. "That's ridiculous Finn. How much could you have possibly drunk to exceed your limit?"

He lifts his arms. "That's just it mate. I didn't. I called the credit card people, and they plainly stated that I didn't have an account, so please don't accuse them of freezing it."

"Are you saying your parents cut you off?" Colin asks incredulously.

He shakes his head. "I don't know. They're in Cuba this week at some Yoga retreat. Can't get a hold of them as they don't have a phone."

I tilt my head. "Are you sober?" I ask carefully.

He nods morosely. "Completely. We have no alcohol left."

I feel a tug at my spine. _No way. She wouldn't have gone after Finn. She wants to make **me** suffer._ I stand. "Let's go then! Tonight is on Colin." I grin at my friend and then shrug. "I paid last month."

He nods, and we pick Finn up. "Let's go."

I stare at the girl. "What do you mean rejected?"

She glances at Colin. "I'm really sorry, I know you guys are here all the time, but my manager says I need to stop comp-ing people."

Colin nods, and pulls out another card. "No worries. This one should be fine."

I feel the tug at my spine increase as she walks away. "How much cash do you have on you Colin?" I ask carefully.

"Not enough." He grunts.

I pull out a fold. "With this?"

"That'll cover it, but after that we'll both be tapped." We glance at Finn.

He shakes his head. "I tapped out last night, was going to get more after picking up the drinks, but with the issues that came up I forgot."

This is stupid. I shouldn't even be worried about this. To do this she'd have had to go to my parents. I sigh as the waitress comes back, shaking her head.

"Sorry guys."

I nod to Colin. "Give her the cash." I clip.

"I have other cards Logan." He offers.

"And I have a crazy suspicion they won't work."

He shrugs. "Give her one of yours."

I fix him with a glare. "Give her the cash Colin. Trust me. My cards are probably just as useless."

He carefully hands over the cash. "You can't possibly be thinking that this was Gilmore."

I run my hands through my hair. "I don't know man. I just don't know. But to be fair, it could be something else."

"But you don't think it is."

"Come on Logan mate, she'd have had to go to your parents. They'd never go along with it."

"Unless she told them about the coffee thing." I clip. "My dad was really stressed about that."

I feel them staring at me. "You took your father's coffee?" Colin whispers.

I nod. "You're the one who told me I'd have to clean out the state."

"You took Mitchum's coffee?"

"I realize now that it was stupid, but the only way he could've found out was if she told him, and they've never met." I answer as we move out of the restaurant.

"Do you really think that would have stopped her? Logan, we're talking about a girl who stormed our dorm room like a firecracker two weeks ago. She's vindictive, you got proof of that when Richard cornered you in the quad."

I stop. "Okay, fine. So it's possible she could have done this to me. Why would she go after the two of you? That doesn't make any sense."

I see Finn wince. "Unless she knew we were involved, and that we would cover for you until you got things straightened out with the banks and your parents."

I turn to him. "How would she have known you were involved?"

He sighs. "I mentioned that we weren't completely aware of the scope of your prank – which, given the information regarding your father is entirely true as it turns out – and implies that we were at least partially involved."

I ball my fists. "How am I supposed to confront her if she's out of town on a retreat?" I ask thickly.

"I'd start with placating your father. He's more likely to continue this that she is."

"Yeah, because I'm going to walk up to him and say 'sorry', and he's just going to hand back control." I deadpan.

"It has a better shot than trying to track down Gilmore does." Colin clips.

"Don't you dare get pissed at me for this. She did this."

"To get back at you." I look over at him. "Fix this Logan. Fast."

I sigh, and pull out my phone to call a car.

"New Haven Transport."

"This is Logan Huntzberger, can you get Frank to come pick us up at the China Palace and take us back to the dorm?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Huntzberger, Frank has been re-assigned by your father to one Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. I am, however, authorized to send you another car to take you to his house."

"We want to go to the dorm."

"I'm not authorized for that."

"You're on retainer."

"To your father, yes, but your account has been frozen."

My eyes go wide. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Your account has been frozen sir. Would you like me to send you a car to take you back to your father's house?"

I swallow. "Sure."

"It'll be about five minutes." I close the phone and glance at my friends.

"She has Frank." I tell them.

Colin's eyes go wide. "What do you mean she has Frank?"

"The only car I'm **authorized** to have is one to my father's house. My account is frozen."

Colin winces. "Seriously?"

I nod. What the hell has she done? How am I supposed to survive?

"That's harsh mate." Finn offers, then laughs lightly. "Ooh." He points at a small car approaching. "I wonder who has to make do driving that." He grins.

The driver steps out, and walks up to us. "Logan Huntzberger?"

I'm going to throttle her for this.

I step into the sitting room and look around. "Where the hell are they?" I mutter, shaking my head as Colin and Finn collapse on opposite couches.

"Who cares Logan? Where the hell did the bar go?" Finn asks.

"They moved it to the kitchen to make life easier for the caterers about a month ago." I offer and shake my head as they stand.

"Right then, we'll be in the kitchen, and then the theater. Join us when you've got this handled." Finn smiles, and pulls Colin out of the room.

I move through the house, and sigh when I see a note taped to the door of their suite of rooms. I open it up. "Gone to Thailand. Be back Monday, we'll figure it out then. Love, Mom and Dad." I read slowly. "Great. Just great. I get to spend the weekend at my parents' house." I mutter darkly, stalking down the hall to my own room.

Flinging open the door, I freeze at the sight of her snuggled up in my bed with a book. "What the hell took you so long? I was expecting you hours ago." She comments lightly.

"Were you?" I ask as calmly as I can, crossing my arms to glare at her. Snuggled up on my bed. Focus Logan. FOCUS.

"Yeah. Considering the trouble I went to in arranging your little surprise, I figured you'd have gotten here to freak out at your parents relatively quickly."

"It was supposed to be Finn's weekend to pay." I tell her calmly, and nearly cave as he smiles widely, leaning further back into my pillows.

"That was a stroke of genius on my part, I have to admit."

I move closer, sitting down next to her on the bed. "How did you get my parents involved? For that matter, how did you get their parents involved?"

She shrugs. "I called your mother, introduced myself. I'll admit it was a lot easier than I expected it to be, even with how pissed your dad was when he realized you were behind the great coffee disappearing act of Connecticut."

I lift my eyebrows, and quickly think about the conversations I've had with my father in the past few months, and with my mom. "It's possible I've mentioned you to them a few times." I admit carefully. A lot of times.

She smiles again. "That was awfully helpful of you."

"You had them cancel my car service?"

She laughs. "Logan, I had them cancel everything except your tuition, dorm rent, and deliveries to my mother. Did you even try to watch TV today?"

I stare at her. "Satellite service?"

She nods. "And land line, and bank accounts, and lines of credit. You name it, its gone." She pauses. "Wait a second. What are you doing in this room?"

They wouldn't have. "This is my room." I explain carefully.

She smiles. "Wow. I didn't think they'd go this far, though the comment before they headed to the airport makes a whole lot more sense now."

I stare at her. "What comment?"

"That they had the maid get the 'pink room' ready for you because your room was unavailable. They actually told **me** there were renovations happening in it."

"They gave you my room."

She nods. "And I saw the pink room. You can forget switching out with me because I'll tell your father and he'll keep the freeze on through next weekend."

"You manipulative little witch!" I hiss. I can't believe she did this! Nevermind that she looks like she belongs there, I can't believe they gave her my room!

She purses her lips. "That's not very nice." She offers.

I throw my hands up. "YOU HAD MY PARENTS FREEZE MY FINANCES!" I shout at her, standing up and beginning to pace the room, then stop cold. "And told me you had a writing retreat this weekend." I face her, feeling my chest constrict as she climbs out of the bed wearing a thin pair of yoga pants and a worn tank top.

"And **you** Logan, made the coffee disappear. This is nothing. Trust me." She stalks towards me. "Suck it up princess. Live without the silver spoon for a weekend."

I look down at her, narrowing my eyes to avoid looking at her body. "In this house?"

I see a glint in her eyes as the door begins to shake with Finn's pounding, and a smile spread across her face that scares me. "Surprise." She whispers, crossing to the door to pull it open. "Hello boys." She greets my friends warmly.

They freeze as they walk into the room. "Mate, what is she doing here?" Finn asks slowly.

I cross my arms. "Making my life a living hell." I clip.

Colin sighs. "And ours apparently. The bar is empty. **Every** bar is empty – we checked. The movies are gone. The pool is drained, and the chlorine tank is empty so we can't even fill it. The tennis courts are locked, the satellite service is coded off, and get this – none of the phones work." He deadpans, staring at her.

She shrugs. "I suppose that if the two of you are really nice to me I'll help you out in your pain a bit and share the TV codes – maybe even tell you where the spare chlorine tank for the hot tubs is, but not if you plan on including Logan in your fun."

They glance at one another, then at me. "You guys can't seriously be considering going along with her."

They nod, and turn back to her. "What do you want?" Finn asks.

She grins. "Coffee would be an excellent place to start."

They hurry out of the room. "I can't believe you've resorted to corrupting my friends." I shake my head as she moves into the room a bit to pull on a deep blue satin robe. Jesus.

"You started this Logan, not me." She offers as she wraps the robe around herself loosely.

I can't do this anymore. I just can't do this anymore. She's just…she's too… I run my fingers through my hair roughly. "And now I'm finishing it." I mutter, half to myself as I move across to her and cover her lips with my own. Perfect. I think idly as she allows me to gently explore her mouth. She's just perfect.

I pull back slowly as her hands begin to trace patterns on my back. "What just happened?" she whispers.

I move my hands through her soft hair, meeting her eyes. "You won. I admit it. Can we go back to making out now?"

She nods, and as she touches her lips to mine I notice Colin and Finn coming down the corridor. I kick the door closed in their faces and continue to hold her tight to me. Okay, maybe this stupid plan of hers turned out okay after all.


	9. A Little Help is All You Need

I pick up the phone calmly, and dial. "Hello?"

"Yes, I'm calling to speak with Shira Huntzberger? It's about her son Logan."

"One moment."

I hear hold music come on the line and sigh. _Jesus. Who has hold music in their house? Not even Grandma has hold music at home._

"This is Shira." A warm voice says calmly. "Whom am I speaking with?"

I smile. "Hello Mrs. Huntzberger. My name is Rory Gilmore, I'm a friend of your son's."

She laughs. "You're the girl Mitchum was telling me about. Richard and Emily's granddaughter."

"I am." I pause. "I need some help with something. About a week ago, Logan and his friends arranged it so that all the coffee on campus and in my hometown mysteriously went missing."

There's silence on the line. "That was Logan?" her voice asks carefully.

I scrunch my face. "What do you mean?"

"Darling, there was no coffee in the state. Except at one little coffee shop in Hartford."

"Java Hut." I state.

"That's the one. His father was livid."

I smile. "Would you like to help me return the favor?"

"Taking coffee away from him won't affect him."

"There are other things that would."

"I think I like you Miss Gilmore."

"I had a feeling you might." I bite my lip. "We probably shouldn't plan this on the phone."

"Would you like to come by for coffee? I promise we have some now, and I think Mitchum would be very happy to help us."

"I'd like that very much Mrs. Huntzberger."

I ring the doorbell to the massive house as calmly as I can. _What am I getting myself into? This is insanity._ I smile at the maid who answers the door.

"You must be Miss Gilmore. Mr. & Mrs. Huntzberger are waiting in the sitting room." She gestures to an arch off to the right and I nod.

"Thank you." I move towards the room, and step in slowly, taking in the sight of the newspaper mogul and his wife. "I'm Rory Gilmore." I offer carefully.

Mitchum Huntzberger stands. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mitchum, and this is my wife Shira. None of this Mr. & Mrs. crap, you hear? We're in this together."

I nod. "Thanks. Although I should warn you, I'm likely to slip from time to time."

Shira grins. "Just don't let it happen too often."

"Sounds good." I smile.

"So, you have a plan to make my son pay for his little coffee stunt." Mitchum states plainly.

I nod. "To be fair, the initial idea stemmed from my mom, but I can't do it without your help."

"I like the sound of that." Mitchum grins at his wife. "Always good to be important in a plot."

I nod again, feeling ridiculous. "You control his money, right?"

Shira laughs. "Oh darling, that's perfect!" she smiles, standing up. "Get up and give me a hug." I stand, and note clinically that she smells like vanilla as she wraps her arms around me. "I'm going to like having you around Rory."

I shrug. "I don't know if I'll be around all that much, but thank you for the compliment."

"Don't be so sure dear. Not many people can keep a Huntzberger on his toes. You're the girl who wrote the article on the Brigade, aren't you?" Mitchum comments calmly.

I nod. "Yes sir, I am."

"I should tell you that my chain was one of the first to pick it up."

I stare at him. "Seriously?"

"Your editor didn't tell you?"

_I am going to kill Doyle._ "No, he didn't."

Mitchum sighs. "He always was a sniveling whiner. Can't admit when someone below him shows talent. Anyways, it will be published in about two weeks – I'll let you know when, but it's part of a series featuring promising students in the field."

"Wow." I blink a few times. "Wow, thank you."

"You're the one who wrote it. Thank you."

I smile. "So, Logan's financial situation." I offer. "There's one tiny glitch that occurred to me on the way over here. If Logan is suddenly broke, Colin and Finn are likely to just cover for him until he can figure out what's going on."

I see Mitchum glance at Shira. "What if Colin and Finn were having troubles of their own?" she asks. "Would that put a kink in their lives?"

I grin. "I think it would."

"Perhaps you should be positioned properly for when they figure it out. Would you be able to come and stay here next weekend? We'll give you a room."

I shrug. "So long as I can study, I don't really care where I do it."

"Good. It's settled. We'll see you Friday night, I'll make sure Emily knows you'll be dining here." Shira says calmly, smiling.

When I pull into the large garage I sigh. _What have I gotten myself into? He's not going to take this lying down. He'll find some way to get back at me._ I step out and walk into the house narrowing my eyes at the luggage near the door. _What the hell?_

"Oh good! You're here!" Shira's voice calls from down the hall.

"Hi Shira." I smile.

"Now, I hope you don't mind, but Mitchum and I have sort of run with your little plan. We've made sure that the deliveries to your mother continue, but everything else has been cancelled. Including his car service, actually. There will be a car sent to pick him up and bring him here as soon as he attempts to use it."

I nod. "That seems fair."

She grins. "Oh but dear, it's not. We've cleaned out the house of alcohol, and most of the boys' favorite activities here…we've taken the liberty of arranging it so they're more than a little inaccessible for the weekend."

I shake my head. "Mean." I smile. "But under the circumstances, I get it."

She nods. "There's a problem though. Mitchum and I are notoriously bad at saying no to Logan. Currently, he doesn't know about our involvement."

"This is about the luggage in the hall, isn't it?"

She nods. "We're going to Thailand for the weekend. Each of the televisions has been encoded for satellite access, and we've taken precautions to prevent the boys from filling any of the pools, but then it occurred to us that that wasn't very fair to you."

I shrug. "I have studying to do anyways."

"Well, the password for the televisions is 'lorelai', all lower case; just in case. And we've made arrangements with the pool company that if you want to use any of the facilities, just call them and they'll take care of it – you'll have to identify yourself as Lorelai Leigh Gilmore though, or they won't come out."

I nod. "Okay. Sounds good."

She walks towards a stairwell, and I follow her to a large set of double doors, which she opens. "You can stay here for the weekend."

I glance around the room. It's large, and comfortable, in navy and a café-au-lait color. "Nice." I glance at her and notice a glint in her eyes.

"Yes, its one of the nicer rooms in the house." She tilts her head, and I follow her across the hall to where she opens another set of doors to reveal a very, very, pink room. "This is the pink room."

I nod slowly, taking it in. Pink lace comforter, pink satin sheets, pink carpet, pink velvet curtains. "It certainly is." I acknowledge.

She laughs. "It really is hideous, isn't it? I've been meaning to re-do it for years, but could never bring myself to spend enough time in here to take any measurements, and neither have any of my designers. Mitchum had it done just before Logan was born. He was convinced we were having a girl."

I nod slowly. "Okay." I accept. _What are we doing in here then?_

"Let Logan know that we had to do some renovations on his room. He'll be staying in here." Shira explains.

I can't help it. I start laughing. "Seriously?" I choke out.

Her own giggles help to calm me. "Absolutely. Mitchum was not impressed by his little stunt."

I slowly stop laughing. "I'd be happy to let him know."

"Well, we really do need to be going, or we'll miss our flight." She offers, and I follow her back downstairs where we meet up with Mitchum.

"Hi." I smile at him.

"You still can't bring yourself to call me Mitchum, can you?" he asks bluntly.

I shrug. "It was all I could do not to call you 'sir'." I admit.

"It'll come in time."

"I don't know about that. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm sort of hoping this will bring Logan up short so he stops harassing me, and realizes that its not safe to mess with a Gilmore."

Mitchum nods slowly. "I know, but that doesn't mean you won't be around a fair bit."

I stare at him as they step out of the house behind the porter who has grabbed their luggage. _What the hell is that supposed to mean? He'd better not have been talking about me to them._

"What the hell took you so long? I was expecting you hours ago." I grin at him, closing my book as he flings open the door.

"Were you?" he asks, crossing his arms and staring at me.

Of course I was. Your mother arranged it so your car service could only come here you egomaniac. Wow, his eyes just got really, really yummy looking. "Yeah. Considering the trouble I went to in arranging your little surprise, I figured you'd have gotten here to freak out at your parents relatively quickly." Focus Rory. FOCUS.

"It was supposed to be Finn's weekend to pay." He clips.

Ooh. So it wasn't him that found out first. Neat. I lean back into the pillows. "That was a stroke of genius on my part, I have to admit."

He moves closer, sitting next to me on the bed. He still smells like coffee! Damnit! "How did you get my parents involved? For that matter, how did you get their parents involved?"

I shrug. "I called your mother, introduced myself. I'll admit it was a lot easier than I expected it to be, even with how pissed your dad was when he realized you were behind the great coffee disappearing act of Connecticut." Come to think of it, it was pretty easy to get her to go along.

"It's possible I've mentioned you to them a few times." He says slowly.

I smile, but feel my mind race. Just how many times, exactly, that she went along before I even met her face to face? "That was awfully helpful of you."

"You had them cancel my car service?" he asks softly.

I laugh. "Logan, I had them cancel everything except your tuition, dorm rent, and deliveries to my mother. Did you even try to watch TV today?"

"Satellite service?"

I nod. "And land line, and bank accounts, and lines of credit. You name it, its gone." I stop myself suddenly, and lock my stare on him. "Wait a second. What are you doing in this room?"

"This is my room." He says slowly.

Oh now that's just mean. I mean, come on. Renovations were one thing, but this? "Wow. I didn't think they'd go this far, though the comment before they headed to the airport makes a whole lot more sense now."

I feel his gaze intensify. "What comment?"

"That they had the maid get the 'pink room' ready for you because your room was unavailable. They actually told **me** there were renovations happening in it." I admit carefully.

"They gave you my room." He states plainly.

I nod. "And I saw the pink room. You can forget switching out with me because I'll tell your father and he'll keep the freeze on through next weekend." I would have nightmares in that monstrosity of a room.

"You manipulative little witch!" he hisses suddenly, standing up.

I purse my lips a bit. **Hey!** "That's not very nice." I remind him.

He tosses his hands in the air. "YOU HAD MY PARENTS FREEZE MY FINANCES!" He shouts incredulously, and then freezes. "And told me you had a writing retreat this weekend." He accuses me.

I climb out of the bed carefully. "And **you** Logan, made the coffee disappear. This is nothing. Trust me." I move closer to him and lock my eyes with his. "Suck it up princess. Live without the silver spoon for a weekend."

"In this house?"

I hear a banging on the door. Ha. Take that. I win. "Surprise." I whisper, crossing to the door and pulling it open. "Hello boys." I smile at the two as they walk into the room to talk to him.

I feel a surge of happiness as they freeze. "Mate, what is she doing here?" Finn asks Logan slowly.

He crosses his arms. "Making my life a living hell." he clips. Damn right.

Colin sighs. "And ours apparently. The bar is empty. **Every** bar is empty – we checked. The movies are gone. The pool is drained, and the chlorine tank is empty so we can't even fill it. The tennis courts are locked, the satellite service is coded off, and get this – none of the phones work." He deadpans, staring at me.

Oh hell, I'm such a suck. I shrug at them. "I suppose that if the two of you are really nice to me I'll help you out in your pain a bit and share the TV codes – maybe even tell you where the spare chlorine tank for the hot tubs is, but not if you plan on including Logan in your fun."

They glance at each other, and then at Logan, who stares at them in return. "You guys can't seriously be considering going along with her."

They nod, and turn back to me. "What do you want?" Finn asks.

I grin. Now I've really won. "Coffee would be an excellent place to start." I suggest, and they hurry away.

"I can't believe you've resorted to corrupting my friends." He shakes his head at me.

I turn away from him to grab my satin robe, pulling it on, and then glance back. "You started this Logan, not me." I remind him as calmly as I can.

I watch as he runs his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. "And now I'm finishing it." He mutters darkly, moving quickly to stand in front of me.

I'm about to reply when his lips cover mine. As he pushes into my mouth, I nearly collapse. God, he even tastes like coffee. I could get used to this. I use my fingers to trace the muscles in his back even as he slowly pulls back. "What just happened?" I whisper.

I feel his fingers massaging my scalp lightly as his eyes meet mine. "You won. I admit it. Can we go back to making out now?" he whispers hoarsely.

I nod, and fuse my lips to his as he kicks the door closed. As he continues to explore my mouth, I realize that I feel like I've come home.


End file.
